Good news to all... 54 of our students have been selected by CTS. Hema has made it and I am glad for the kid. Some of our students came to the department to share the good news. Ayush Sharma, the musician and mischievous Mr. Festember 2005, spent a leisurely hour talking to us.

We asked him and a few others how they had improved their communication skills and were told that English movies with subtitles at the rate of two or three a day and newspaper reading helped them. So, I guess, that in time English teachers may have no role at all ... as if we do now...who am I fooling? Ha..ha

Satyam, Caritor and one another company whose name I forget are coming in the ensuing weeks... should see a sizable number placed then.

Ayush, ofcourse was telling me that there is a peculiar problem that he is facing in the hostel after the placement...It appears that those who are not placed feel a certain resentment and are kind of ignoring those who have been placed. Ayush said that it was a new experience, since he has always been friendly and popular with all. He was diffident about even offering to help, in case the unselected students felt marked and kind of small.

Well, I guess time will heal these students as they come to accept the realities of life. It must be tough on them. Pray that God gives them the strength to accept their defeat and the courage to face the tomorrows and prepare for future victories.

Hooray! TCS has taken in 84 of our students after that mammoth exercise that extended into the wee hours of Wednesday. However, our Prinicipal is not happy as he had expected at least 120 to be recruited.

He asked us, the department of English, to help the final year students. We promised to take up one seminar hour to help out our guys.

But, there is something strange in the selection process - it cannot just be lack of communication skills - brilliant students with excellent academic record and really good, I mean really good communication skills have not been selected. I do not know what the expectations of the company were, but, I do wish there were a feedback to let us know where our students have failed to live up to the expectations.

However, I am happy that there is one person in Salem, a consultant who runs an education consultancy service, who has told my neighbour that their daughter should find a place in GCE, but should not consider it as GCE does not have any recruitment at all ( hey, is the guy deliberately blacking out info? Last year, 220 of our students were placed), who will have to eat his words.

CTS has come in today, and I hope a good number of our good students overlooked by TCS will be happier today. Heard that Hema and Divya had sobbed their hearts out. I wish the kids well.

TCS, the giant is in the campus. They had an accreditation meet to review the college and to probe the validity of the college of its claim as a college of repute. Mr.Pattabiram, one of the members unreservedly apologised for the fact that the college had so far been overlooked by it. It questioned teachers on methods used to impart good communication skills, review, student feedback, parent- college interface and importance given to ethics.

What impressed me at the end of it was their assertion that the company looked for culture, communication skills and knowledge base. They were simple, frank and open too in their discussions.

Kudos to the principal, Dr.Jeyakumar for his perseverence in persuading the company to come in for a recruitment drive in the college. All this happened last week. Today, the company has come for an online test for our students, which I believe goes on till 3a.m tomorrow. The kids are dead serious about it and anyway, I have no doubt about the capability of the present set. They are a brilliant and hard-working lot. God bless them with success.

Hema and Pradeepa, the two sweet things from EEE called up late last night to tell me they were taking up the test and sought blessings. God will be there with them and guide their thoughts and actions, I am sure. I wish the kids well.

Am on vacation for the summer. Am polishing up the research pages. Am wondering if I will ever finish the study.
College was quiet and seemed to have gone into hibernation too, except for the office and exam cell. Maybe my imagination. The college has activities running throughout the year.

A GCE that the old timers may not recognise....

GCE is getting ready for the accreditation team's visit. Believe me when I say that she is beginning to glitter like a bride. The blocks are getting a new sheen of paint ...though, of course, while all else a re the dull, drab military green and ochre shades, the computer science block is the pale pink of pearls and with a lovely beige border ...very, very English and very much like a pretty rose.

The insides are getting a shape-up too. The lounge in the admin block is bright, airy and lit with chandeliers and other silvery lights which brighten the atmosphere. The walls are laid with marble and have granite borders.

The park areas outside that used to be overgrwon with bushes, are all cleaned by the assiduous students and look clean, neat and tidy. There are park and no park signs all over the campus. The signboards glitter with new colours.

All in all, a great look is being given to the college.

Heat is building up in Salem. It was 37 degress today. Likely to climb the chart. Children had their sports day. As usual, ice-cream bars were eagerly lapped up. I missed the sports day, cos I was busy preparing the report and slides for the report to be given to the NBA. However, I missed the heat and the sports.

The BEC batch from final CSE were in the department, pulling one another's legs and mine too in the process. Jhanu (Jhansi Rekha) and Uma got their autograph books signed by us...

Missed Sri in the group...Sri is our special friend and VJR's special friend too... VJR looks ineffably sad these days...wonder if he is getting used to the idea that he will soon be missing Sri. Hope everything works well for the kids and that there is happiness waiting for them...

We have invited them all to lunch on Wednesday at Lakshmi Prakash...

Muthu, the mech man of 2005 was here to meet me...He has found himself a good job at Pune with a steel company. I wish him all the best in his work...the guy impresses me with his sincerity and singleness of purpose and the cheerfulness that is always seen in him. He has the potential to reach the top.

Heard that the farewell party for the final year is being hosted at Chenneys. Mmmm...

Uma is apprehensive as it appears that the juniors have got all kinds of personal info like who they think is the smartest boy...who has stolen their hearts...who is the heartthrob, etc., She is afraid that the info will be used by the juniors to rag them...Tables are turning I see, with seniors being scared of being ragged.

GECOFEST 2006
Ha, GECOFEST 2006 was once again a gala event for GCE. It unfailingly stirs up a lot of activity, spurs creative moments and ends in heart throbbing cultural competitions - heart throbbing, literally, since the regally yellow and maroon curtain goes up to some thumping music.

I along with Prof Parveen Kumar Issar and Mr. Sankar judged the Western Choreography event. Since cinema songs were prohibited, there was music only. Boy, was it fantastic. I never knew Mukhil had it in him to dance so well. But, the outright winners in my opinion were the second years under Saravanan. The boy has real talent in choreography. There was unison in the execution of the dance and some fantastic steps. The general aesthetics of the dance scored outright some brownie points for it. Of course, the other two judges had their preferences and when the scores were totalled, the final year students won the first prize. It was good, but the aesthetics,mmm.. not as good as that of the second years.

The next one was on Adapt Themes. The second years had us in splits with their bit on "NO SMOKING". The joke is that it was judged by, among others, a professor known for his chronic smoking habit.

Left the hall after that, as there was a powercut. Went around admiring the exhibits of clay modelling and other sculptures. There were some spectacular pieces.
It's wonderful how young people have the creative juices flowing in them...I vaguely remember that at one time, I was creative too. I liked drawing and writing. Well, perhaps, that is the way life moves on.

Will miss the final year CSE students who took up BEC with the department of English. They are sweet kids, full of unpretentious friendliness.

GCE after the NBA visit

The dust has settled down on the NBA visit to GCE. The Alumni meeting with the panel of the NBA at Chenny's Gateway went off quite well. About a 100 past students attended the meet and interacted with the committee. The committee was quite probing in its questions and moved on from one aspect of alumni interaction to another. These professors from IIT were very smart and knew how to get to the bottom of affairs.I was surprised to learn that about 120 students now work in Neyveli Lignite Corporation.

Well, the administration has done its best to get the accreditation for the college that will ultimately benefit our students. The cosmetic changes have also done the college a world of good. The lounge is also at its atractive best.
Well, I was involved in the preparation of the powerpoint presentation of the college profile and believe me when I say that I was also amazed at the growth of the college.

Preparations are afoot for the GECOFEST 2006, a one day affair. The brochure is well written and needs to be commended. Ayush, our II year Mech man was here to get Professor Parveen Kumar Issar to participate in the orchestral show.
We all know professor's singing talents and every alumnae remembers it.

College is also gearing up for the elections. Pity all the classrooms that have been renovated will be dirtied by glue, gum, pasai, seal wax and posters all over the classrooms shortly when the district authorities take over the classes.

I also look forward to see the dance to be performed by the girls. No movie songs are allowed and so there may be more creativity and originality in the shows.

GCE Salem is absolutely stunning in wet weather. The trees are glistening with rain drops, grass grows lush everywhere and tiny flowers in yellow, muave, purple and pink are blossoming on small shrubs. Last month, there was an exodus of butterflies of breathtaking colours from someplace and GCE happened to be a transit point. They came in wave after wave, delicate and colourful. They must have been in thousands. I remembered something that I had read somewhere - that one butterfly's flight can cause climatic changes in lands far across oceans and continents. Wondered what this mass movement signified.

College is getting networked.Will this usher in any important change for the department of English? Maybe, we will get a computer before Professor Parveen Kumar retires.

GCE Salem is celebrating its Alumni Day on Sunday, 25.12.2005. The first year girls are staging a skit in English. Probably, for the first time ever in the annals of GCE Salem. Hope the boys dont boo them down, simply because they dont understand English. But then, it is an action packed play..should do the trick..let me hope for the best...

Salem is getting more and more pleasant with the weather remaining cool and the sun behind the clouds. There was a gory accident on the Hasthampatti road today. Obviously, a cyclist was knocked down by a bus. The glistening blood spoilt the day for me and I am yet to get over it.

Vijay, the prolific writer from Metallurgy, II year, came bounding to tell me that he has created a blog for his writings. Hope he gets a wider readership than the one he has been getting from his teacher.

One of the tamil medium students of the first year came up to tell me that he could not understand what he was supposed to do with the tasks in the English text. Hope he gets over his reservations and understands the skill based activities that are so different from their school work in English.

Sri was bubbling with joy at the small talk she had shared with her friend's father.

The final year students are having a whale of a time with plenty of free hours. Saw Sridhar at the Central Gate; he is always there for a quick bite at the shop there or the canteen. Heard the college canteen is serving good stuff in a good ambience.